All the Fun with None of the Buzz, the Story Behind Montana’s Only Non-alcoholic Bar

Hold My Bar is a fascinating blend of contradictions. It’s a bar that observes Dry January all year, serving zero-proof and non-alcoholic drinks. But it’s not just any bar — it’s a 1976 horse trailer transformed into a prohibition-era oasis. And despite its modest Instagram following, Hold My Bar has a dedicated fan base that travels to farmers markets in Whitefish, Columbia Falls, and Kalispell for a taste of its refreshing concoctions.

Since February, Hold My Bar, Montana’s first non-alcoholic bar, has been a hub of community activity. From its vintage horse trailer, uniquely named beverages like “The Witch Doctor” and “Magical Rose Margarita” are served al fresco, both in the Flathead Valley during weekday markets as well as at pop-up locations across the state. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Uriah Rosenzweig and Mary Cortesi don’t just mix drinks — they create a fun and memorable experience, engaging customers in personalized conversations about their days.

From the very beginning, friendly, personable service has been a central tenet of the Hold My Bar philosophy. A quick scroll through the Instagram feed unearths their first-ever event in Kalispell, Frosty the Brewfest. The annual food and brewery festival helped establish Hold My Bar’s presence and gave a sense of what it was like to navigate a drinking culture in the food and drink scene.

Hold My Bar’s presence extends beyond the valley, in Billings and Butte in particular — both cities welcoming the establishment with open arms. This year, the bar did an event in Butte for April 20, “Munchies on Main.” Event organizers of Butte Pride took notice and invited Hold My Bar to cater for them in July. The event was a success. Their special “Pride Punch” sold out.

It would seem that Hold My Bar has been a Montana staple for a long time, but its origins span back to 2022, when it was the brainchild of the founder, co-owner, and tattooed bartender Uriah Rosenzweig.

For Rosenzweig, 2022 was a turbulent year. At that time, he was a lifty at Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort and made a poor decision while drinking on the job that eventually led to his termination and cost him his ski pass. He had built a community donning an alter-ego persona named “Jerry Senderson” who would deliver humorous snow reports during his shift. When news broke that he had been fired, his supportive followers — who were familiar with, and fans of, his ski-related Instagram posts — rallied behind him to start a GoFundMe campaign, which raised enough for him to get an all-season pass.

Originally from California, Rosenzweig has called Montana his home since 2018. After receiving the outpouring of support, he decided his next job would be at Montana Taphouse, where he could interact with people, just as he had engaged with his followers on Instagram at the ski resort. He drank before and after his shift but then decided to consider ditching alcohol. A decade ago, he was sober for 18 months, which gave him the confidence that he could beat an alcohol addiction — he had gone to rehab for methamphetamine use in the past and was motivated by communal support to quit drinking.

Fast-forward a little, and the year continued to prove pivotal and life-changing, full of firsts and contradictions. By the end of it, an oxymoron occurred: Rosenzweig decided to go cold turkey on alcohol and was voted the third-best bartender in Whitefish.

“I got beat by two ladies, so I like to say that I was the best male bartender,” he said. “I quit drinking in August of 2022. I was about two weeks sober and some friends and I went down to Missoula to a concert at Kettlehouse. And we went to a couple of breweries, and there were really no good non-alcoholic options, not even non-alcoholic beer at a brewery.”

Frustrated by the lack of options, Rosenzweig started googling where he could go that wasn’t a bar or a coffee shop. In a Beacon interview at Ceres, drinking a Matcha Colada from Ceres Bakery, he said, “If you don’t drink coffee, where else is there really to go? There are bars and coffee shops. That’s kind of it.”

What Rosenzweig speaks to is partly due to the ongoing decline of so-called “third places” in America, the social infrastructure that facilitates social interactions and builds community. Public places like libraries and parks are prime examples of such places, but so too are small businesses like cafes and bars. And though the definition of a third place varies, the general definition is that they are defined by how ordinary they are: simple, unassuming places to “hang out” and meet new people.

For Rosenzweig, a people person and enthused bartender, not having a third place that suited his new lifestyle was disappointing. He knew that he wasn’t alone. According to a 2023 Gallup survey, 38% of adults abstain from alcohol completely. “Sober bars,” non-judgmental spaces serving zero-proof spirits and drinks, were popping up all over America for sober and sober-curious folks seeking alternatives to drinking alcohol, but who missed the ambiance of a bar or a cocktail lounge.

So, Rosenzweig set out to make his own space.

At first, he tried brewing his own non-alcoholic beer but quickly realized how difficult that was. Turns out, the process to proof and liberate alcohol was not only extremely difficult — or, in Rosenzweig’s words, “impossible” — the process was very, very expensive. For example, he discovered that to make zero-proof bourbon, an actual bourbon is distilled and then reverse-distilled so that the alcohol is removed. But since he was already down the rabbit hole, Rosenzweig explored his options even further, outsourcing dealcoholized wine and a breadth of alcoholic alternatives available through distributors.

To the uninitiated non-alcoholic, it can be confusing to the palate: the beverage doesn’t contain alcohol, but it tastes like it does. When Hold My Bar won best beverage at the 2024 Flathead Food Truck Festival for their zero-proof bourbon and amaretto, “God Not My Father,” the judges could not believe it was liquor-free. Thanks to an alcohol liberation technique, the notes were still present without the signature alcoholic burn.

The alcohol can also be liberated in wine after the fermentation process. What drinkers will taste, however, is the remaining fermentation, which mimics the flavor of wine. “When people say, ‘Well, isn’t this grape juice?’ Well no, because they’re actually making the wine,” Rosenzweig said.

Now, Hold My Bar carries dealcoholized spirits and wines, along with canned adaptogen and botanical drinks. Shimmering cocktails like “The Witch Doctor” produce sensations similar to the experience of being buzzed or intoxicated. A common ingredient used in these spirits is kava, a South Pacific plant that can relax the body and function as a mood enhancer. Hold My Bar carries about 50 different types of non-alcoholic beers in total.

The non-liquor liquor establishment has come a long way since its humble 2022 beginnings. Soon, they will be carrying a zero-proof alcohol called “Lupujus,” which is made at Imagine Nation, a Missoula brewery that manufactures all its beer in Montana.

“I have the most non-alcoholic beer in the state. I know that for a fact. And I run out of a little horse trailer,” Rosenzweig said.

In the future, Rosenzweig and Cortesi want to add to the Hold My Bar experience, hosting yard games like cornhole for people to hang out and play or, more ambitiously, a brick-and-mortar location to host events with live music and karaoke.

Of course, some patrons stick around, while others might not. Whatever they choose to do, Rosenzweig and Cortesi feel lucky to play a role in their everyday lives.

“For me, it’s not about how we are doing, but who we are connecting with,” Rosenzweig said. Whether it’s just one person or a hundred people, Rosenzweig and Cortesi are always happy to welcome back all stripes of clientele, from loyal Instagram followers to patrons discovering the bar for the first time.

For now, Hold My Bar continues to provide their services as labors of love.

“We’re here to create an experience from us to the drinks to the environment,” Rosenzweig said. “We are connected with the community, and we love the community. I think that comes out of our service and in our trailer itself.”

To check out Hold My Bar and stay up to date on their public events, their Instagram is @hold.my.bar. For more information about bookings and general inquiries, email [email protected] or [email protected].

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